


Black and White and In Between

by enby0angel



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, BAMF Umino Iruka, Basically, Black Hat Umino Iruka, Case Fic, Discord: Umino Hours, First Kisses, Getting Together, Hacker Umino Iruka, Iruka being a Prankster, Iruka's a giant flirt and Tenzo doesn't know how to handle it, M/M, Multi, Neither does Kakashi for that matter, Pranks, Semi-established relationship, Umino Iruka Adopts Uzumaki Naruto, Umino Undercover, Undercover, government agents, i'm running out of tag ideas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-25
Updated: 2020-08-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:01:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26101597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/enby0angel/pseuds/enby0angel
Summary: Iruka would never deny that he was an avid lover of chaos. He thrived in it – it’s part of the reason he became a hacker in the first place. Of course, less than two years having passed since he watched his parents get slaughtered in front of him didn’t really help much, either.He wouldn’t say that he was a bad person – especially since meeting and adopting little Naruto, the light of his life, the kid who had helped him change for the better over and over again – but he would never deny that he hadn’t always been a good person.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka, Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka/Yamato | Tenzou, Hatake Kakashi/Yamato | Tenzou, Umino Iruka/Yamato | Tenzou
Comments: 8
Kudos: 186
Collections: Umino Undercover





	Black and White and In Between

**Author's Note:**

  * For [earndarby](https://archiveofourown.org/users/earndarby/gifts).



> Written for Moz in the Umino Hours Discord Umino Undercover Exchange!! I hope you like it Moz <3
> 
> This was really fun to write, and it was a joy to let out my inner computer nerd~ you might be able to tell it was inspired by my love of CSI: Cyber, MacGyver and Game Theory. I heart detective shows, what can I say-
> 
> Anway, I hope you enjoy!! You especially, Moz <3

Kakashi jolted awake at the blaring of a car alarm, up and alert in a second flat. He threw off his bed covers and made his way over to his apartment window, looking out. He groaned as he saw that it was, indeed, his car that was making the racket at seven in the morning, threw on the first shirt and pair of pants he found on his floor, grabbed his keys and made his way downstairs.

He pressed the button on his keys, to no avail. He sighed, and it was then that he noticed the sheet of paper underneath his wiper blade. He frowned. There was no way he had a parking ticket, so what...

It certainly looked like a parking ticket, but it was folded over. He flicked it open and was flooded with relief at what he saw. The car alarm flicked off in the background without Kakashi having pressed anything at all.

_ 'Cars are way too easy to hack nowadays, Hound. -P' _

Kakashi sighed again, shoving the note in his pocket. He didn't bother to look around, though he knew he was being watched. When back in his apartment he pulled out a lighter and set the note alight above the sink, ensuring it was gone. Looks like work is starting early today, he thought sleepily to himself. Oh well.

  
  


Tenzo eyed the man approaching the door warily. He walked with an assurance of himself, obvious confidence that was hard to miss. The man stopped in front of him and looked him up and down, the long scar arose his face standing out in the dim light of the doorway.

"So you're the hired muscle," the man commented. "It's a shame you have to be out here all the time." He accentuated the last comment with a flirty grin, and Tenzo fought an embarrassed flush despite himself.

"And you are?" he asked instead.

The man's eyes sparkled with mischief and delight. "New to this place," he answered lightly, "but trust me, I've been around for a while."

"Is that so?" Tenzo raised an eyebrow.

The man hummed an affirmative, reaching into his jeans pocket and pulling out his phone. He tapped on it a few times and then said, almost to himself, "They call me Poseidon."

Tenzo became immediately more alert. His bosses had talked about Poseidon before with a type of awe in their voices, something that had caught Tenzo's attention at the time because they weren't in awe of just anybody. But Tenzo had pushed the curiosity aside because, as Poseidon himself had just said, he was just the hired muscle. It wasn't part of his job to know what went on on the other side of the doors.

But now, as Poseidon looked up from his phone with a gaze filled with laughter, he couldn't help but wonder.

Poseidon tapped one last button on his phone and Tenzo's head turned sharply as he heard the door behind him unlock itself and creak open a couple of centimetres. He looked back to the man, who simply looked satisfied with himself.

Tenzo eyed the man for a second, but when he didn't back down, Tenzo stepped back to hold the door open for him.

Poseidon moved to pass him, but hesitated in the doorway where they were almost pressed against each other, and winked up at him before continuing on.

Tenzo heard someone call Poseidon's name (maybe Kisame?), but he couldn't close the door behind him yet. He watched the man, how he walked like he ruled the world, and shook his head.  _ Hackers. _

  
  


Kakashi strolled out of the elevator towards his office, coffee in hand, only to be met with Asuma ambushing him on the way.

"Kakashi," he said by way of greeting. "We have something."

"Akatsuki on the move again?" Kakashi asked.

Asuma nodded. "Yeah, how'd you know?"

Pulling out his phone, Kakashi led the way into the round room, where an entire wall was covered by screens and assorted coders, programmers, and white hat hackers rushed around from computer to computer.

"Alright everybody, listen up," Kakashi announced himself from the top of the stairs into the indented room. "This morning we received an anonymous tip that the Akatsuki has started meetings again, confirmed by activity on the deep web. We don't know what their plans are, but considering their past acts of terrorism we need to keep an eye on them."

The biggest screen flashed once, and then a list was brought onto the screen. Two columns, ten boxes total, and numbered. In each box was the handle of a hacker, with some filled out with their real names and their photo.

“Almost all of these people are known to be affiliated with the Akatsuki,” Kakashi continued. “These are the ones we need to keep an eye out for on the deep web. Our source from this morning will continue to keep us updated.”

“Not to question your judgement, boss,” Genma spoke up from the side of the room, chewing on a toothpick, “but you’re  _ sure _ we can trust this source of yours?”

Kakashi met his gaze evenly, and the conviction in his voice was clear when he said, “Absolutely.” Genma nodded and leaned back in his chair, the confirmation obviously enough for him.

“Hey,” Anko called out from closer to the screen. “Has Poseidon gone up a rank?”

High up in number 3 sat the handle  P0531D0N11 , an incomplete section with no name or photo to match. “Good catch,” Kakashi praised his colleague. “He’s become more active recently, with the steady rise of Akatsuki activity. So far, other than that, we have no reason to believe he’s directly associated, but keep an eye out in case he does openly communicate with them.” There were nods and affirmations from around the room, and Kakashi set his shoulders.

_ I’m coming for you. _

  
  


There was something about Poseidon that Tenzo just couldn’t put his finger on. He was just so  _ different _ from the rest of the people that Tenzo let in and out of that room.

He held himself with an air that said he couldn’t care less what people thought of him. It was admirable. He spoke in such a way that there was no choice but to listen, including Tenzo himself during their small talk at the door.

And it might just be the way Poseidon is, just in general, but Tenzo couldn’t help feeling like Poseidon was constantly  _ flirting _ with him.

It was starting to get to him, in the best way possible, and Tenzo couldn’t help the way that he started to loosen up around the guy.

“So why are you standing guard for a bunch of hackers, anyway?” Poseidon asked him idly one night, looking up from where he was tapping on his phone. It had been a week’s worth of meetings since the first night, when he had opened the door himself, the leader of the group kept re-coding the door in an attempt to make sure Tenzo and himself were the only ones capable of opening the door, but Poseidon kept getting through it in a matter of minutes. They were yet to make him take five minutes to hack into it.

Tenzo just shrugged at his question. “A job’s a job,” was all he could really say in response. “Money is money. I don’t ask questions and get paid at the end of the night.”

Poseidon tilted his head at him, and a shiver ran down Tenzo’s spine at the way those eyes seemed to stare  _ into _ him rather than  _ at _ him. He fought down a blush. “You know,” Poseidon said slowly, “if the cops were to raid this place right now you’d get arrested as an accomplice, right?”

“I know,” Tenzo nodded. “That’s the risk I take for my jobs. I don’t know what goes on in there, but I could still be busted for just being here. But this is how I pay for the food on my table and the clothes on my back.”

It was those  _ damn _ eyes. Forget making him hot under the collar, this guy was starting to make him  _ mad _ by proxy.

“I see,” was all Poseidon said in response. He tapped once more on his phone and the door clicked open, and he moved to step past Tenzo again, the same as every other night. But this time, he paused. He hesitantly reached up a hand, the first time Tenzo had ever seen him pause for anything, and placed it gently on Tenzo’s shoulder. “If it’s worth anything,” Poseidon said quietly, “you deserve better than this.”

Tenzo had nothing to say to that, so Poseidon just squeezed his arm once and then went the rest of the way into the room. When the door was safely closed behind him, Tenzo scrubbed a hand over his face and sighed.

What the hell was he supposed to do about this?

  
  


Kakashi was having a bad day, and it was only eleven in the morning. He’d had to chase after a suspect, which involved running through alleys, scaling walls, and jumping off a fire escape, all in the pouring fucking rain. He groaned as he peeled off his freezing and soaking wet jacket and shirt, only for his bare skin to be met with the cold of his apartment. At least he’d been able to go home and change.

At least they’d been able to catch the bastard, at any rate.

He startled when he heard his coffee machine start up in the kitchen. He hadn’t even had a chance to put it on yet. He pulled his gun out of its holster and crept in, sweeping the room quickly. He took a closer look at the coffee machine and saw there was a sticky note attached to the top.

Kakashi frowned at it, glancing out his window. It appeared to still be locked, but that didn’t mean anything when he worked with the people he did. He glanced over the note.

‘ _Your machine makes some good coffee. How do you afford this?’_

“It really does make good coffee,” a voice said nonchalantly from behind him and he whirled around, pistol coming up at the ready.

Casually sitting on his couch was a familiar face looking at Kakashi with zero fear in his eyes despite the gun pointed at him, holding one of Kakashi’s mugs.

“Seriously,” the man continued, bringing the mug to his lips and taking a sip. He sighed contentedly, looking down at the contents. “ _ So _ much better than the crap coffee they have there.”

Kakashi relaxed, bringing his arms down and sliding his pistol back into the holster. “What are you doing here?” he asked.

The man raised an eyebrow at him. “It’s good to see you too, Hound,” he greeted. He brought up a hand and tucked his long hair behind his ear. Kakashi blinked at this, for the man’s hair was usually up in a tight ponytail. He took in the rest of the man in a second: he was dressed almost femininely, with good jeans and boots, and a green trench coat that made his frame look smaller and more delicate than it was. His hair, loose and wavy, completed the look of innocence, someone you would not give a second glance to and if you did, you might even think he was a girl.

It was the eyes that gave him away as something more. They showed hidden mischief and quiet laughter like there was a joke only he understood.

Then he smirked, the long scar across his nose stretching with it, and slowly looked Kakashi up and down, lingering on his bare chest in a way that made Kakashi want to blush like a teenager. “It is  _ very _ good to see you,” he almost purred and Kakashi needs to get a shirt on like, _ right now. _

Kakashi moved around the couch the man was sitting on and into his bathroom, where he pulled out a towel and started to dry himself off. “You can take a shower if you want!” came a call from the living room, “I promise I won’t mind!”

“What are you doing here, Poseidon?” Kakashi called back in answer, hearing a dramatic sigh.

Then the tone changed. “There needs to be a little change in plan.”

Kakashi paused in his motions. Poseidon sounded tense and concerned. He leaned against the bathroom doorway, and began drying off his hair. “What kind of change in plan?”

Poseidon took a long sip of coffee. “There’s an innocent involved,” he began. “He’s been hired as a bodyguard, and he knows that he’s guarding hackers, but he has no idea who they are or what they’re planning.”

“I see.” Kakashi hummed thoughtfully, going into the bedroom and pulling out a new set of clothes. “Do you know his name?”

“I can do you one better.”

Kakashi sighed. “You got his record, didn’t you.”

“Oh please,” Poseidon scoffed. “It can hardly be called a crime when the security is so sad that even a _ script kiddie  _ could hack into it. Besides, I only got the blacked-out version, I know better than to try and get into the KBI with you watching my every move.” Kakashi, now dry and re-dressed, came into the living room and took the file that was being held out to him. He flipped it open to the first page and froze. Poseidon noted it immediately, and leaned forward. “You know him.” It wasn’t a question, rather a statement of obvious fact.

Not seeing a reason to lie, Kakashi nodded, slowly sinking down into the chair opposite Poseidon. “We served together,” he admitted. “He was under my command. If I’d known he’d end up here...”

“Hey now,” Poseidon interrupted. “I told you, he doesn’t know shit. Honestly, I’m not sure he knows how to check the source code of a web page. He seems like the kind to think the second page of Google is the deep web.” Kakashi huffed a laugh at that. Poseidon wasn’t wrong, Tenzo was always terrible with computers. Poseidon tilted his head, hair swaying slightly. “If the cops showed up tomorrow night and raided the place, he’d let you. He’s just there to make sure nobody strange gets in or out. It’s just a paycheck for him.”

Kakashi nodded. “I believe it.” He didn’t look much further into the file, closing it again and setting it on the coffee table between them. “I’ll do everything in my power to make sure he’s not charged as an accessory.”

“Good.” Poseidon was smiling now, quiet and soft. Then he stood up, leaving a now empty coffee mug on the table. “I should get going. Meeting starts in a couple hours, and I need to go home and get changed.”

Kakashi stood up to match. “Thanks for the information.”

“You’re welcome.” He hesitated slightly. “H-how’s Naruto doing?”

Kakashi rolled his eyes. “Growing up to be just like his father. Last time I went to see him I got powdered sugar to the face.”

Poseidon outright laughed at that. “That’s my boy,” he said. “But don’t tell me you didn’t see that coming?”

“He’s getting better,” Kakashi admitted grudgingly. “One day his pranking skill might outpace yours.”

Raising an eyebrow in an obvious challenge to the boy not in the room, Poseidon said, “I’d like to see him try.” They’d been moving around while they talked, and were now standing at the door out of the apartment. “Your friend is cute, by the way,” Poseidon said suddenly, like it was an absent thought. “He hasn’t lost any of his form from the military.” He winked, and Kakashi felt the heat rising to his face at the mischievous intent in those eyes.

“Is that so,” was all he could think to say before a calloused hand was on his cheek and they were leaning together and he was sighing against Poseidon’s lips as he breathed in the familiar scent of sandalwood and berries. The few seconds it lasted felt like hours and even then it was still not enough as Poseidon pulled back, thumb still brushing over Kakashi’s cheekbone. “Don’t do that to me,” Kakashi murmured, “or I might not let you leave.”

Poseidon chuckled. “We both have to get back to work, Hound.”

Hearing his codename made his chest  _ ache _ and he started, “Iruka-”

“Don’t,” Poseidon warned, and Kakashi’s mouth snapped shut. “Not until all this is over.” Kakashi nodded his understanding, however reluctantly, and Ir-  _ Poseidon _ , kissed him again. Kakashi’s hand moved of its own accord into Poseidon’s hair, the other arm wrapping around his waist and pulling them closer together. Poseidon pulled away again with a sigh, giggling when Kakashi tried to chase his lips. “Your friend really  _ is  _ cute, you know,” he said between soft laughter.

Kakashi smiled as well. He knew that perfectly well, but he still asked, “Should I be jealous?”

“Nope,” Poseidon chirped.

“Then I hope you aren’t insinuating anything?”

“I’m not insinuating anything,” Poseidon said with a shrug, “but, I saw that look in your eye just now-”

“Oh gods.”

“- _ and _ the one from just before when I told you that he hasn’t at all let himself go.”

“You are unbelievable.”

“Excuse you, I am a catch. I’m just saying, so is he.”

Kakashi couldn’t help but kiss him again, and it was a little while longer before Poseidon finally left the apartment. Even then he stood there for a while, feeling colder than before he’d walked into his apartment in the first place.

  
  


Something big was brewing in the room he guarded. Tenzo knew this for a fact. He just wasn’t entirely sure  _ what. _

Poseidon was as playful as ever, which was honestly a light in Tenzo’s day. Over the course of a couple of weeks, Poseidon had opened the door and something had immediately made a small _ bang! _ This, of course, sent Poseidon himself into fits of laughter, and even Tenzo had to hold back amused smiles.

This particular day, Poseidon had unlocked the door again – Tenzo didn’t even try to open the door for him, and was in fact mentally timing how long it took him to get it open each day – and the man with the long blonde hair slammed the door open and reached for Poseidon with fury in his eyes. Tenzo had grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the way, leaving Blondie to grasp at empty air.

“What the fuck,” he snarled.

“What?” Poseidon asked innocently, looking for all intents and purposes like he had  _ no _ idea what Blondie was talking about. Tenzo could never tell when he was lying.

“ _You know what you did,”_ Blondie accused, pointing at him.

Poseidon tilted his head. “I can neither confirm nor deny,” he stated, “seeing as I have no clue what you’re on about.”

Blondie nearly screamed and lunged, only to slam into Tenzo’s chest when he stepped between them. Despite the steam almost coming out of his ears, he didn’t try to get around him. He stood there, silently fuming and gritting his teeth, before marching back into the room while muttering obscenities under his breath.

The minute Blondie was out of sight, Poseidon pressed himself into Tenzo’s side, causing Tenzo to instinctively wrap an arm around him before he knew what he was doing. Poseidon wrapped his own arms around Tenzo’s neck and pressed a lingering kiss to his cheek. Tenzo felt himself blushing furiously but didn’t move away from it. He had no desire to.

Poseidon moved his lips to Tenzo’s ear. “You have friends on the other side of this,” he murmured, Tenzo freezing in his arms. “You can get out of here.  _ We _ can get out of here.”

Tenzo decided to stubbornly ignore the insinuations of the last sentence, and focus on the ones before that.

“What do you mean?” he asked. “I don’t have anyone.”

Pulling away slightly, Tenzo could see that Poseidon’s eyes were once again sparkling and the man was barely holding back a grin. “Old friends,” he said cheerfully, as if that explained everything. Ignoring Tenzo’s obvious confusion, he leaned in again and pressed a kiss to the corner of Tenzo’s mouth, and this time Tenzo  _ couldn’t  _ ignore how many promises, how many secrets, and how much  _ care _ was put into that one action.

Poseidon said one more thing that made all of the air rush out of Tenzo’s lungs, and before he could react Poseidon was almost dancing out of his arms and into the room, shutting the door behind him.

Tenzo put a hand over his mouth, unsure as to whether joy, relief, or confusion was the most prominent emotion at the time.

_ The Hound send his regards. _

  
  


By all means, it was just another regular day in the office as Kakashi’s team scoured the deep web for stray signs of the Akatsuki. Anko had been developing a code that would catch trigger words or phrases and was currently leaning back in her chair and sipping at an iced coffee as she watched her handiwork. Genma was in the lab waiting for a malware scan to finish on a phone that had been left at his front door with his deep web handle scribbled on a sticky note stuck to it, and only Kakashi had any idea of who it was from. Asuma was the poor sod that had been stuck doing  _ actual paperwork _ and was grumbling under his breath about it. Kakashi was checking in with everyone in between his own backed-up paperwork (ugh).

Kakashi jumped out of his chair at a screech and a crash, followed by loud swearing from multiple people and… was that  _ music? _

He ran out to the round room. Anko was on the floor, her coffee spilled everywhere, and Asuma was standing and leaning one hand on the desk, the other clutched over his chest. His chair was behind him, tipped over.

Asuma was staring at his phone with wide-eyed confusion, and it was then Kakashi realised that said phone was loudly blaring the  _ Loony Tunes _ theme song. He slowly made his way over, reaching Asuma just as the song ended. They both watched as the screen went dark, then flashed with a grid of black and white squares.

“What the fuck?” Anko declared loudly from her position, still sprawled on the floor.

“Gimme a sec to recover from the heart attack, Anko,” Asuma wheezed.

“Fuck you, I lost my entire coffee!”

As the two bickered, Kakashi picked up the phone. “QR code?” he wondered aloud. It certainly looked like one to a degree but even as he said it, it didn’t seem quite right.

“I wanna know who the hell managed to do that,” Asuma said. “My phone is pretty secure against hackers.”

Kakashi raised an eyebrow at him. “I think we both know someone who could, and would, do this sort of thing.” Asuma looked bewildered, and Kakashi shrugged. “My Akatsuki informant is definitely the type to pull this off. Information stored behind a prank.”

“You need a calmer informant,” Asuma told him, shaking his head.

“It’s brilliant, actually,” Kakashi mused. “If you don’t know what to look for, it makes them seem like just another hacker doing dumb shit to look cool. But everything has a purpose with them.”

Asuma frowned. “You’re sure about this?” he asked slowly.

Kakashi nodded once. “Absolutely.” He left no room for argument. “Now, let’s get to work.” He turned and looked down at Anko, who was staring mournfully down at her jeans. “You good?” She glared and swore at him, which was a clear indication that she was okay, and left her to clean herself up.

Genma was standing at the door to the lab, looking around the round room with confusion mixed with amusement colouring his face. “Never a boring day in here,” he commented.

“How’s the phone coming along?” Kakashi asked.

“No malware on it, so I’m gonna connect it up and start scanning through the contents to see what we can find. I was about to come let you know when Poky Pig decided to show up.”

“Ha ha,” Asuma called loudly.

“Let me know what you find,” Kakashi said to Genma, ignoring Asuma. Genma retreated back to the lab and Kakashi went back to Asuma. “Pull it up on the big screen,” he said, and a few minutes later the black and white grid was on the wall for everyone to see.

The group tossed around ideas for a little while, even pulling up a QR scanner to no avail. Asuma surrendered his phone to the lab techs to see if there was anything in the files that shouldn’t be there. So far they’d found nothing, it was as clean as it had always been. It made sense, Kakashi new Poseidon wouldn’t be the type to infect any of their devices with malicious code without a good reason.

“Hey, Boss!” Genma called, descending the stairs into the round room. “So I scanned through all the phone’s apps, and at first it looked like it was at default, y’know, factory settings? I couldn’t find anything. No photos, no contacts, nothing,  _ until- _ ” he dragged out the word, “I found a single file in the notes app.” He held out the phone to Kakashi, who took it and looked down at the note Genma had left open.

** 60 = 0 **

** 6F = 1 **

** P **

“I have no idea what it means yet,” Genma shrugged, “but we’ll get on it.”

Kakashi didn’t give it back just yet, reading over the two first lines again and again. The letter  _ P _ was obviously a signature, one Kakashi knew all too well, but the first two lines intrigued him. He turned around to look at the grid on the television screens.

_ Six zero… six F… _

He blinked.

_ Six zeroes. Six Fs. _

“Hex codes,” he said suddenly.

“What,” Genma said from behind him.

“Six zeros is the hex code for black,” Kakashi explained, “and six Fs is the hex code for white. Black equals zero and white equals one. It’s not a QR code, it’s binary.”

“Holy shit,” Asuma stated flatly. “The phone package and my phone hack were from the same person?”

Kakashi nodded. “I told you, the information is beneath the prank. Convert all the black squares to zeroes and the white squares to ones and then run it through a binary translator. We got this information today, we need it today.” He looked around the room. “The Akatsuki’s timeline must be picking up.”

“That’s pretty genius, though,” Genma chuckled. “This guy knows his stuff.”

Unable to help the corner of his mouth twitching into a smile, Kakashi nodded again. “That he does.”

It didn’t take too much time, though it took way too many double-checks before they had the numbers they needed, and Anko had pulled up a binary translator. She put the numbers into it, and after a few seconds of loading, what came up looked like a load of gibberish at first.

“Base64,” Anko observed, and Kakashi didn’t need to tell her to pull up a translator for that as well. She put it through the wringer for that as well, and finally, they got readable words. What they said sent a shiver down Kakashi’s spine.

_ They’re moving a week from now. Not sure how much they trust me anymore. You need to come now. Cat will be there. Don’t send a warning. Keep Fox safe. _

_ See you soon. _

Underneath this note was an address.

“Shit,” Kakashi breathed, hearing Asuma hum his agreement.

“Cat and Fox?” Anko inquired.

Taking a deep breath, Kakashi explained, “Code names. Cat is the bodyguard they’ve hired to guard their safe house, he’s an outsider. Fox is a personal concern of my source.”

Genma turned to him. “Kakashi,” he began slowly, “if this note is to be believed then we need to move in on these guys quickly. And if we’re going to do that, we need to know who your source is.”

Kakashi didn’t do anything for a moment, then slowly nodded. “You’re right,” he said. “Under no circumstances are he or Cat to be collateral damage.”

“Then tell us,” Anko said flatly. Kakashi nodded again and gestured for the three of them to follow him. He led them to a separate room, where he then darkened the glass so nobody could see inside.

Kakashi picked up a tablet connected to the television screen in the room and pulled up a profile covered in blacked-out sections. “This is Iruka Umino,” he said. “Former black hat hacker, arrested for creating code that was then sold and used by black hats to cyber-rob banks, businesses, you name it.” He looked around at his team. Asuma’s mouth was wide open as he stared up at the screen, Anko had frozen, and Genma’s shoulders had slumped. “He was let go without charge on the condition he became a confidential informant for the KBI about the goings-on of the deep web, the Akatsuki specifically.” He looked back at the image of the man. “He is known online as Poseidon.”

Asuma whirled around. “No fucking way,” he exclaimed. “He’s Poseidon?!”

“I can’t believe this,” Anko murmured. “You knew Poseidon all this time.”

“What the fuck,” was all Genma had to say on the matter.

Nodding to all of them, Kakashi pulled up another photo onto the screen. This was Poseidon, Iruka, with his arms wrapped around a young boy who was grinning brightly at the camera. The boy was blonde-haired and blue-eyed, a stark contrast to Iruka, but they had the same tanned skin and the same wristband on their right arms. “The boy is Naruto Uzumaki, Iruka’s son. He was the reason Iruka wrote and sold code, it was the only way he could get them both food and some sort of a home. He’s the Fox referenced in the note.”

He brought up another file onto the screens before anyone, particularly Asuma, could say anything. “This is Cat, also known as Tenzo Shimura. Adopted by former senator Danzo Shimura at a young age, he left his home at 18 and joined the military. He was under my direct command for many years and was still serving when I retired. We lost contact, and it seems he’s been working odd bodyguard jobs to make ends meet since he came back home.”

Kakashi was now at the front of the room, looking around at his team. “This information was only available on a need to know basis, and the three of you now need to know if you’re coming with me for the arrest. Umino and Shimura are not to be collateral damage, but we will need to arrest them both to keep their covers. Understood?” The three nodded, Asuma somewhat belatedly. “Good. We move in tomorrow.”

He moved to leave the room, hearing Asuma’s heavy footsteps following him. He made his way into his office, leaving the door open in an invitation for Asuma to follow him in, which he did, closing the door behind him.

“Iruka?” Asuma immediately demanded. “Iruka’s involved in this?”

“Yes,” Kakashi affirmed. “He has been for years.”

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” Asuma’s face was thunderous.

Kakashi sighed. “Need-to-know basis, Asuma.”

“He’s my brother!”

“And he’s my friend,” Kakashi insisted. “And apparently you missed the fact that your adoptive brother is a career criminal.”

“Career-” Asuma sputtered. “What are you talking about?”

Kakashi sat down at his desk, opened a drawer, and pulled out an unmarked file. He sat it on the desk in front of him, gesturing for Asuma to pick it up. “The uncensored version. He sold his first code at thirteen years old. That code was used to steal information about safety deposit boxes. He confessed to creating and selling the code with malicious intent.”

As Asuma read, the life seemed to drain from his frame, until he slumped into a chair opposite Kakashi. “I can’t believe this.”

Kakashi cocked his head. “What did you think happened to him when you hadn’t heard from him in years?”

There was a moment of silence. “We drifted apart,” Asuma finally said. “But… he still texted me once in a while up until a few months back...”

“He never actually went to jail, Asuma,” Kakashi assured him. “And if he helps us take down the Akatsuki, his record will be cleared. Completely.”

Asuma just looked at him, determination burning behind his eyes. “Completely?”

Kakashi nodded. “He’ll be free to start a new life with Naruto.”

Sighing, Asuma threw the file back on the desk and put his head in his hands. “I can’t believe this.”

Kakashi stood up and rounded the desk to lay a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “We’ll get him out of there,” he swore.

_ You better get out of there. _

  
  


There was something odd about Poseidon tonight, and Tenzo was sure he only noticed it because he’d been special forces at one point. He may be absolute shit in social situations, but he could pick up body language.

Poseidon came up to him with that signature smirk on his face, clearly knowing  _ exactly _ what that was doing to Tenzo. But unlike usual, he wasn’t fishing his phone out of his pocket to find his way around the latest code keeping the door locked to everyone but him. Instead, he came straight up to Tenzo and looped his arms around his neck. Tenzo almost expected Poseidon to kiss him properly this time, but the kiss only landed on his cheek again. Still, Tenzo’s hands came to gently rest on Poseidon’s hips, which made the man smirk again. “Thank you for your service, Cat,” Poseidon sighed. The old codename made years of memories flash behind Tenzo’s eyes, but Poseidon running a gentle hand through his hair helped him slowly relax until they were pressed together.

“How do you never stop surprising me?” Tenzo mumbled into Poseidon’s skin where he was pressed into the crook of the other man’s shoulder, still having his hair gently played with.

Poseidon just giggled. “It’s one of my special talents,” he answered. “I saw a dog following a cat yesterday,” he said casually. “I think they might come by here soon. Not sure when, it’s not like a dog can warn me.” Tenzo froze for a second at the implications behind the words. “Do you understand?” Poseidon asked. Tenzo nodded. “Good.” Poseidon kissed his lips this time, softly and with the utmost care, before pulling away too soon and straightening up Tenzo’s jacket. Tenzo fought the urge to reach up and touch his lips, which were still tingling. He reached into his pocket, tapped his phone a few times and the door opened with a  _ click _ .

  
  


Iruka would never deny that he was an avid lover of chaos. He thrived in it – it’s part of the reason he became a hacker in the first place. Of course, less than two years having passed since he watched his parents get slaughtered in front of him didn’t really help much, either.

He wouldn’t say that he was a _ bad _ person – especially since meeting and adopting little Naruto, the light of his life, the kid who had helped him change for the better over and over again – but he would never deny that he hadn’t always been a  _ good  _ person.

But still, regularly being in a room with people like the Akatsuki made him sick to his stomach.

He had sent little Naruto (despite how much older Naruto had gotten since they first met, he would always be his little boy) off with Jiraiya for the duration of his undercover stint. Sure, he hated the man for not looking after his  _ goddamned godson _ and would happily punch him if he wouldn’t be risking a broken hand, but at the moment he was safer than Iruka would ever be. Being away from him for months on end hurt like hell, but it was safer for all of them.

Besides, meeting Tenzo was an added bonus to, you know, getting his record cleared of every crime he’d ever committed for the past ten years that would probably get him sent to a high-security prison in solitary confinement for his next ten lifetimes.

The point is, Iruka loved chaos. Which is why it was odd that when the door was kicked in, instead of feeling the instant rush of adrenaline that came with being hunted down, the thrill of the chase, of getting lost in the crowd, of running through alleys and climbing walls until he lost his pursuers, all he felt was… instant  _ relief _ .

Sure, he still shoved his laptop in his bag and tried to go for the back door, but he didn’t fight at all when he was grabbed from behind and slammed onto a desk, an officer yelling at him to stop moving and that he was under arrest.

Not that the back door would have done him – or any of the Akatsuki – any good in the slightest. He’d locked all the doors and windows with his own special code, one that not any of them could hack. They were locked in with the KBI flooding the place.

He let the officer take his backpack, cuff his wrists, and haul him out the door. He saw Tenzo being patted down by another officer, hands against a wall. They made eye contact briefly, and Iruka let the corner of his mouth turn up in a smile. Tenzo seemed to relax minutely, before he too was placed in cuffs, albeit gentler than Iruka himself was, and both of them were led to one of the unmarked black vans with the red and blue lights illuminating the street. They sat in silence as they were driven away.

When they were finally at their destination, distinctly not the local police station, they were uncuffed and led into the building. They were directed up to a floor Iruka had never been to, both led into the same room, offered coffee which Iruka accepted gratefully, and left alone with a curt “Agent Hatake will be with you soon.”

As soon as that agent had left the room and closed the door behind her, Tenzo whispered, “Hatake...”

Iruka smiled at him. “Yep. Hatake Kakashi. I’m glad you remembered that Hound was his codename, or I would have had to come up with a whole other codename system.”

Tenzo’s eyes met his. “You know him.” It wasn’t a question.

“Yep,” Iruka sighed, and took another sip of his coffee. He sat down at the table in the middle of the room, leaning back in his chair. Tenzo sat opposite him. “The case of Poseidon was his first really major case when he became the head of the Cyber Division here at the KBI. He successfully tracked me down and arrested me. So, you could say we have a… history.”

“What… kind of history?” Tenzo asked. Iruka just winked, delighting in Tenzo’s blush.

Then Iruka leaned forward, holding his hand out. “Iruka Umino,” he said. “I figure I should introduce myself, after having led you in circles for a while.” Tenzo smiled and shook his hand.

“I’d do the same,” he said, “but I’m sure you know everything about me already.”

Iruka shrugged. “Almost everything,” he replied honestly. “There’s a lot of classified stuff in your KBI file. Almost as much as Kakashi’s.”

Tenzo smiled. “What about yours?”

Iruka laughed. “Unless you’re really high up, all you can see on my file is my name and photo.”

“You’re kidding.”

“I kid you not.” Iruka grinned widely. “Ten years of being a black hat-turned-informant will do that to you.” Then he looked down into his coffee, staring at his swirling reflection. “Hopefully that will all be gone by the end of today.”

Tenzo started to say something but was interrupted by the door opening. In walked Kakashi, looking exhausted and relieved underneath the professional exterior. Tenzo stood up immediately – a military habit, perhaps? - while Iruka stayed seated, but he smiled warmly up at his friend.

“Captain Hatake,” Tenzo greeted, seemingly a mix of relieved, a little confused, and breathless.

“Tenzo,” Kakashi greeted him in return, nodding his head. “It’s good to see you again. I’m… sorry, that we fell out of touch.”

Iruka smirked at that, and hat to bite his tongue to keep himself from saying I told you so! He sipped his coffee as he watched the two men converse for a while, watching how they tried to navigate around the awkwardness of being former superior and subordinate, and now old friends reunited under abnormal circumstances. Iruka knew Kakashi a lot better than he knew Tenzo, and honestly, he was doing pretty well.

Finally, Kakashi cleared his throat and got down to business. “Now, Tenzo. Normally you would have been arrested with the rest of the Akatsuki-” this made Tenzo gulp, “-but due to our inside source confirming your innocence in the matter of the actual terrorism being planned, you won’t be receiving any kind of punishment for that. The fact that you cooperated with the KBI when we arrived helps your case immensely. The higher-ups will probably insist we keep you under our observation for a while going forward, and I advise you accept that. Trying to argue may cause you to incriminate yourself.”

Tenzo nodded. “Thank you.” He then looked over to Iruka. “Both of you.”

Iruka just smiled warmly up at him. “I told you we’d get out of there.” He winked, causing Tenzo to look down at the floor.

“As for you,” Kakashi turned to Iruka. Iruka stood up as well now, setting his coffee down on the table. “Iruka Umino, without your dedicated and valuable assistance, the KBI wouldn’t have been able to arrest the majority of the active members of the group known as the Akatsuki. In accordance with the deal you made with the KBI, which I witnessed,” Kakashi trailed off for a second, a small smile creeping onto his face, “your criminal record is being completely wiped as we speak. Congratulations, you’re a free man.”

Hearing those words made Iruka slump, and he leaned on the table for support. All the breath had left him. He had just finished running a months-long marathon against the Akatsuki, and a years-long marathon against the world at large, and he was finally able to finish and catch his breath.

He felt a door close behind him, and a thousand new ones opened up in front. He hadn’t heard Kakashi walking up to him until a hand landed on his shoulder. His head snapped up to see Kakashi looking down at him in concern. “Hey, you okay?”

Was he crying? Iruka brought his hands up to his face and his fingers came back wet. He rubbed at his eyes, nodding. “I’m great,” he said, laughing through the words. “I’m fucking fantastic.” He ran his hands through his hair, a wide grin spreading across his face. “I’m  _ free _ .”

There was a knock at the door, and everyone turned around to see… Asuma, standing there with one hand holding the door open. He was staring at Iruka like he’d seen a ghost, and Iruka stared right back. God, Iruka hadn’t texted him back in  _ months _ . He’d kept that phone off, it was sitting in a hacker-proof box in the back of his wardrobe.

“Iruka?” Asuma’s voice was shaky, like he barely managed to choke out the word.

Iruka smiled, just as shakily. “Hey, Asuma. Long time no see.” This seemed to break Asuma out of his trance, and Kakashi only just managed to step out of the way in time for Asuma to grab Iruka into a crushing hug. Iruka gripped his brother back just as tight. He knew he had a good reason for not contacting him but damn if it didn’t hurt anyway.

“You’re an asshole,” Asuma mumbled.

“I missed you too, big brother,” Iruka laughed. He half-noticed that Kakashi had moved over to talk to Tenzo, before the door slammed open again.

“Iruka Umino you  _ fucking _ asshole!” was screeched  _ very _ loudly and then Iruka had an armful of Anko, with Genma not too far behind. Iruka laughed as he greeted his friends, who were yelling at him and hugging him and checking him over for injuries and gods only know what else. It made warmth spread through his chest – he was a bit worried they wouldn’t forgive him after everything that had happened.

They were soon interrupted by Kakashi clearing his throat gently. “Sorry to interrupt, he said cheerfully, “but it seems there’s someone else here who wants to see Iruka here.”

Iruka’s head snapped up. Kakashi just smiled and gestured for Iruka to follow. He did, barely managing to keep himself from sprinting ahead (mainly because he, well, didn’t actually know the building all that well), until he rounded a corner and saw the unmistakable figure of Jiraiya. He had one arm around a child, who looked around when they approached.

Sea-blue eyes widened.  _ “Dad!” _ Naruto yelled, and began sprinting down the hallway towards him. Iruka moved around Kakashi to meet him halfway, dropping to his knees just in time for Naruto to throw himself at him. Iruka caught him and held him tight, burying his face into blonde hair. Everyone else around them faded away as Iruka just held onto his son, fighting back tears.

Eventually, he picked them both up, wiping away Naruto’s tears. With permission, he made his way out of the building. He’d call Kakashi tomorrow. For now, he was treating his son and himself to their favourite ramen restaurant.

  
  


Things started to sort themselves out from there, for Iruka. Naruto moved everything he’d taken out of Iruka’s apartment back into it, so the two of them could start their life over again. Naruto had asked if he could keep seeing Jiraiya, as he’d actually enjoyed their time together (“Though he’s not as cool as you are, Dad, don’t worry!”), which Iruka had agreed to.

Jiraiya had a lengthy discussion with Iruka, who had in essence told him, “Either be in the boy’s life or don’t. No wishy-washy coming and going. I can still ruin your life.” A week later he had purchased a permanent apartment in the city, within walking distance of Iruka and Naruto’s own apartment.

Kakashi helped Tenzo secure a permanent security job at a good firm in the city, and to Tenzo the thought of a steady income was way too good to pass up.

Iruka took the initiative to ask both Kakashi and Tenzo out for a drink, which they apparently hadn’t realised was supposed to be a date until they got there. Hey, it’s not Iruka’s fault they can’t read between the lines. He watched the two of them dance awkwardly around the subject of  _ them _ until he couldn’t take it anymore, and told them to “Just kiss already, for the love of the gods. No kisses from me for either of you until you communicate like actual fucking adults.”

Once they’d sorted that out, it was actually a very lovely night for the three of them. A lovely night indeed, that had ended up with them all returning to Kakashi’s apartment because Iruka accepted only the best morning-after coffee.

Iruka nearly cried when he’d been invited for an interview at an elementary school nearby. His background and police checks had come up clean, no criminal history, because Iruka could now legally say that he  _ wasn’t a criminal. _

He definitely  _ did  _ cry when they called him and offered him the job. Jiraiya treated all five of them to celebratory dinner after that.

A criminal no more, undercover no more, life was finally good.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading!! Comments and kudos are always appreciated <3


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